Cliffsend Residents’ Association

Committee and General Information

The Cliffsend Residents’ Association was founded in 1951, and currently has a membership of over 50% of the households in the village.

One of its first tasks was to raise funds to build the Village Hall which was opened in 1968. In 2001, they led the task of forming the Village Shop Association, together with the building of the extension on the Hall to provide the Post Office and Shop.

Social events and liaising with other groups in Cliffsend, Thanet and beyond keep the committee busy.

The Association holds a seat on the Kent International Airport Consultative Committee.

Annual subscriptions (£2.50 per household) are collected in the Spring of each year, when a magazine is provided to members. Newsletters are distributed during the year, to keep members informed of events and matters of concern.

Chairman’s Report 2015

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT MARCH 2015

Another year has passed. We joined with the Parish Council for the fun day last Summer to commemorate the start of the First World War. It was great to work with them, and the whole day went very well, with fun and games, (including Boule and skittles) with ice-creams and burgers in the Meadow during the afternoon and culminating in a Barn Dance in the Hall in the evening.

We organized the annual Carol Singing, having refreshments, after the strain of singing our hearts out, in St. Mary’s Church, as the hall was already booked.

Our two Wine and Wisdom evenings were well attended, and we have been asked to hold another –so that can’t be bad! Some of the profits, together with a generous grant from Cliffsend Parish Council, were used to sponsor the Post-Christmas Dinner held in January this year.

The tank traps and post box have now been listed by English Heritage, and thanks are due to Pat Searle and Brenda Jones for sorting the paperwork etc. which led to this amazing result. Please do observe them when you make your way to the Nature Reserve, and celebrate the work that this Association achieves.

The Traffic calming is now nearly complete (some work is still to be done on the roundabout at the end of Meverall Avenue) and it has certainly led to a reduction of traffic using Canterbury Road West and Sandwich Road. Of course some people do not like the new speed limits and refuse to adhere to them, but the majority appreciate the changes, and it feels more like a village than previously.

We gained some new committee members last year. Unfortunately some people have not been able to attend all of our committee meetings, but we have still been busy supporting our members in many ways.

I sincerely thank the hard working members of our committee, particularly Joe, who is now standing down as Treasurer, Pat who, as Secretary, sorts our minutes and letters, and Sheila, who, as President and committee member, does her very best to keep me in check, and to encourage all of us to do all we can to meet the aims of the Association.

This Association started in 1951 and so much has happened since then! We work hard to enhance the lives of residents in Cliffsend, and if you have any ideas or suggestions of how we can progress or improve on this, please do let the committee know.

Thank you for your continued support. V. Hovenden , Hon Chairman, March 2015